How To Grill Hot Dogs

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Ball Park. The opinions and text are all mine.

Summer is the perfect time for grilling, so I thought I’d share some tips on grilling hot dogs with you today! Growing up we cooked hot dogs in boiling water or microwaved them, but I think that grilling them gives the best flavor. So here are some tips about how to grill hot dogs if you’ve never done it before!

If you love summer grilling, check out these other great grilling recipes:

How To Grill Hot Dogs

Hot dogs are already fully cooked when you get them from the store, so all you need to do is heat them up before you eat them. But the way you heat them up can definitely affect their flavor, so I prefer to grill my hot dogs instead of boiling, steaming, or microwaving them.

Start with quality hot dogs

The first thing you need are good hot dogs. I am always one to search for a bargain, but sometimes you get what you pay for, and in the world of hot dogs, a high-quality, all-beef hot dog is definitely the way to go!

Prepare your grill

We love cooking on coals rather than with a gas grill, but you can do it either way! If you’re using charcoal, bank your heated coals to one side so that half your grill is heated and half is not. (If you use a gas grill, only turn on half the burners to achieve the same effect.) If your food tends to stick to your grill grate, you can spray it with non-stick cooking spray before you start grilling your hot dogs.

Prepare your hot dogs

You need to do a little work to prep your hot dogs before they’re ready for the grill. It only takes a few minutes to grill hot dogs to perfection, but if the heat isn’t just right it can ruin your dogs!

If the heat is too high, the outside will char and shrivel and get tough, but the inside won’t fully heat up. Or the casing could burst open and the juices will all spill out. If the heat is too low it will take too long to cook and the outside won’t get slightly crispy and you won’t get the nice “snap” when you bite into the dog. So you need to cook the dogs on medium heat (which is why you prepare your grill as I mentioned above), and you can also pierce the skin of the hot dogs before you grill them.

You can poke them a few times with a fork, or make a few small slits with a knife, but I prefer to spiral cut my hot dogs. This allows the dogs to cook to perfection, get a nice crisp skin, plus the spiral helps hold condiments in place once you put your hot dog on the bun!

It’s surprisingly easy to spiral cut your hot dogs; start by skewering the hot dogs through the middle. Then take a sharp knife and, starting at one end, cut into the dog at an angle, all the way to the skewer. Rotate the hot dog and skewer as you go, making one long single cut through the whole dog until you get to the other end!

Pull the skewers out of the hot dogs after you’ve made the spiral cut, and they’re ready for the grill!

Cook your hot dogs to perfection

The most important part of grilling hot dogs is to never walk away from the grill! They cook fast and just a few seconds can make the difference between the perfect hot dog and a charred, shrivelled mess. 🙂 And remember, leave the lid open on your grill, otherwise you can’t keep an eye on the dogs!

Put your hot dogs on the hot side of the grill. Roll them a few times to make sure you get grill marks on all sides of the hot dog. As soon as the hot dogs start to expand (but before they start to sputter or the casing bursts), they’re done! Move them to the unheated half of the grill to keep them warm for a few more minutes while you finish up.

Don’t forget the buns

Open the buns and place them face down on the heated portion of the grill for just a minute. You don’t want the buns to get crispy or burnt, but you do want them to get just slightly toasty!

Once the buns are slightly toasted, move them to a plate, pull a hot dog off the grill, and place it directly onto the bun. That way if any juices drip, they’ll drip right into the bun!

Add your favorite condiments, and you’re done!

Want to share this tutorial with your friends? Just click any of the share buttons on the left to share with Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.!

Disclosure: I received compensation from Ball Park and TapInfluence in exchange for my participation in this grilling campaign. But the Ball Park Park’s Finest hot dogs are delicious and all opinions in this post are 100% my own. I would never write a post about something I didn’t think was useful or interesting for you guys, and Practically Functional will only publish sponsored posts for companies or products I love and believe in! 🙂

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Ball Park. The opinions and text are all mine.

Hi, I'm Jessi! Welcome to Practically Functional, a DIY and crafts blog for everyone! I believe that anyone can do crafts and DIY projects, regardless of skill or experience.
Whether you're looking for simple craft ideas, step by step DIY project tutorials, cleaning hacks, or just practical organization solutions, you'll find them here! Make sure to sign up for the email newsletter to get craft projects, Cricut tutorials, and cleaning tips in your inbox every week (for free!)